Wheee—it’s Edgars Week!
Up at 2:00 and on the road by 3:15 for a 6 am flight, doesn’t that sound like fun? Well, when it’s in the cause of MWA’s Edgars week, yes, it’s fun. The rest of the plane seemed to think so as well, although I don’t believe all of them were headed for JFK for the same reason as I, especially the twenty or so teenaged hip-hop kids laden with an incredible number of huge stuffed animals. However, I soon saw the reason for the animals, as the kids all spent the flight draped over the padding, snoozing.
Me, too. Not with the four foot high stuffed dogs, but with the snoozing, which brought me up to almost six hours of sleep, plenty to keep my partying until, well, ten o’clock. And yeah I know that’s only seven West Coast time, so I’m not a party animal.
Tuesday of Edgars week has always been Black Orchid day, when the bookstore up on 81st street flings open its doors and Bonnie and Joe pour wine for writers and readers alike. But the Black Orchid has closed, sadly, which made us all the more grateful for the launch party hosted by Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Books down (FAR down) in Tribecca. Bonnie and Joe were there, too, and Michael Connelly and seven or eight other contributors to The Blue Religion. (You might be able to order copies signed by the authors there last night from Mysterious Books, not sure.) Lee Child was there, with the fabulous Maggie Griffin (Publicist to The Stars) and too many other friends-and-relations to list here, and we had a drink and some of us signed a LOT of books and chatted and took pictures (I’ll post links if people send them) and then some of us realized we were about to pass out from lack of nutrition, so we migrated around the block to an Irish pub for fish and chips or shepherds pie or veggie curry (me) and chatted with Sarah Weinman and Jason Pinter, and I met Tasha Alexander and Ken Bruen (whose The Priest is nominated for a Best Novel Edgar,) and…nope, can’t list them, because I have to post this and run off, this time to The Village where I’m having brunch with SJ Rozan.
But in case I get carried away and don’t open my trusty laptop until next week, let me say that the indomitable Sarah Weinman will be blogging live from the Edgars banquet itself, so you can follow live time the excitement of the night. I’ll be there, at the Random House table with my editor and publicist and other RH authors, and I’ll give you a virtual wave, look for me among the hundreds of others.
Now—off to a day of writers and books!
(Sorry I can’t work out how to link on the laptop–for your info, here are the links:
Ken Bruen and the other nominees: http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html
Sarah Weinman’s blog: http://www.sarahweinman.com/
Tasha Alexander: http://www.tashaalexander.com/
The Edgars Banquet live blog: http://www.mysterywriters.org/?q=mwablog
Roxanne says
April 30, 2008 at 11:01 amI have you have a very nice time in NY (despite the sleep deprivation). I was at Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Books when you were there in January 2007. But I was too shy to say anything. Maybe I will do better this coming October in Baltimore . . . 🙂
Roxanne says
April 30, 2008 at 2:37 pmOops. That’s, “I *hope* you have a very nice time in NY . . . “
Strawberry Curls says
April 30, 2008 at 7:01 pmOh, I bet you are having a grand time, once you get over jet lag and lack of sleep. I feel an almost sixth degree of separation with you. I saw Sarah Weinman last Saturday at the L.A. Times Book Festival. She presided over a panel discussion about “The Literary Detective” with Les Klinger, Peter Robinson and April Smith. Unfortunately some of her questions were so complex and rambling the members of the panel would look at each other and shrug not knowing where to start. Once Les Klinger, I think it was, said, “Was there a question in there somewhere?” I felt much the same.
I’m a big fan of Tasha Alexander, having read her first two books and already pre-ordered the next. I love her protagonist, Lady Emily Ashton. What fun to meet everyone.